Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: The Hunt and the Summons
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Some time later, Allen's party moved swiftly toward Mount Nicea.
Since carriages couldn't pass, they had no choice but to travel on foot.
'I wonder what kind of 'quest' Julius is up to now.'
Allen was currently under a two-week confinement.
To be precise, it was the apprentice knight, Pan, who had supervised the duel, as well as the participants, Allen and Julius.
The reason was simple.
A mere apprentice knight had been in charge of supervising—a role meant to prevent careless mistakes and unexpected accidents—and as a result, a major incident had nearly occurred. Neither the supervisor nor the duelists could escape the count's wrath.
His father, in a rare display of anger, had punished each of them.
'Though I can't be sure if it was because we dueled without permission, or because Julius, the possessor, almost died.'
Thus, Allen and Julius were confined to their respective annexes for two weeks.
Pan, who had only been caught up in the affair, was sentenced to 500 hours of night watch on the castle walls in full armor, along with intense training.
Allen took this opportunity to sneak out of the mansion, intending to claim the elixir Julius was supposed to have obtained from the back mountain.
To hide his movements, he had blocked access to the annex under the pretext of training, and to avoid being tracked, he had taken a shabby carriage along a side road.
Now, it was time to reap the rewards.
"From here, we'll split up as I explained earlier."
"Understood, Young Master."
"You have the map I gave you, right? Inellia and Linbelle, you two will start from the southeast and work your way to the northwest. Can you do it?"
Inellia and Linbelle answered energetically, their faces full of determination.
'Looks like she's calmed down now.'
Linbelle was back to her usual self, the one Allen was accustomed to seeing.
"We will not fail."
"Yep!"
I'll take every last elixir that man was supposed to get from the back mountain of El Lound.
'I'd love to see the look on Julius's face later...'
But I suppose seeing it myself would be impossible.
Allen felt a slight sense of disappointment at this fact, finding satisfaction in imagining it instead.
"Alright, let's meet back here in six hours."
"Young Master, I wish you good fortune."
"Thank you, Inellia. There shouldn't be anything here that can harm you, but... don't let your guard down."
"Please do not worry."
"Alright. I'm off."
Feeling two pairs of eyes on his back, Allen shot forward.
Time was short if he was to collect all the elixirs on the mountain.
* * *
A vast chamber.
In the center of the chamber, which was tiled with pure white marble, nine figures occupied a small round table.
And surrounding it, countless seats—enough for hundreds of people—encircled the round table like the audience section of an opera house.
However, these seats, which were usually mostly empty, were now completely filled, as if some major event had occurred.
Among them were influential mages, including the masters of great magic towers and the heads of smaller schools, as well as those of the 4th Circle or higher—individuals worthy of being called veteran mages.
A low murmur filled the air.
"Do you have any idea why an emergency summons was issued?"
"I'm not sure... Perhaps another primeval corridor has opened somewhere."
"Hmm... that seems plausible. But if that were the case, would there be any reason to hide the purpose of the summons until now?"
"That's true."
Most of them had no idea why they had been forcibly summoned.
They greeted the mages they knew and speculated on the reason for the summons.
In a corner of the chamber, Francisca, her large robe pulled down low, was trying hard to endure her boredom.
'I shouldn't have come to this place.'
Even though she was on bad terms with one of the magic towers, she had been forced to attend due to her grandfather's insistence that a mage must fulfill their duties.
'I finally found the person I heard about in the prophecy.'
She had lived her whole life looking for that one thing since she was a child.
Because of that, her grandfather had become the Reinhardt family's exclusive mage at her request, and she herself had worked tirelessly to become a 4th-Circle mage.
After all that time and effort, she had finally found the subject of the prophecy.
'So why have I been stuck in this damn place for a month?'
Francisca's angry gaze fell upon a young man sitting near the round table. She pulled her robe down even further, hiding herself.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to contain herself.
How much time passed like that?
Bang!
"How much longer do you intend to make us wait, Varden!"
Pardel, the Master of the Fire Tower and one of only seven Masters, turned his head toward the Master of the Light Tower—the one who had issued the summons—and shouted.
"That's right, Varden. Isn't it about time you told us? If you called us here for no reason, it won't be fun~"
"Th-that's right. M-my research is all, all backed up. H-how much longer do we, we have to wait?"
Following them, Skyna of the School of Transformation and Margol of the School of Alchemy spoke up.
After them, the other mages, tired of waiting, began to voice their complaints to Varden.
"How long do you plan to remain silent, Varden!"
"Don't forget that an emergency summons must be accompanied by a proper reason, Lord Varden."
"Just because the first Master of the Light Tower had a connection with the first Hero, don't think you're the same."
"There's a limit to our respect for you, Tower Master."
Varden, who had been quietly silent, decided the atmosphere was ripe and finally spoke.
"Yes, you are correct."
At his response, the noisy chamber fell silent.
They were mages.
Regardless of the school they studied, they were intellectuals who possessed sufficient knowledge and composure.
"An emergency summons cannot be issued without a valid reason."
"And knowing that, you've remained silent until now? For a whole month! No, it's been over six weeks now. You'd better have a good reason for wasting our time."
Pardel, true to his violent nature, glared at Varden with fierce eyes.
"Yes, of course, there was a reason. A reason significant enough to warrant issuing a secret summons."
However, Varden didn't even blink at Pardel's threat and immediately nodded.
Pardel snorted once and fell silent. Despite his explosive temper, he was a mage.
If there was a legitimate reason, he was prepared to listen to Varden's words.
...Assuming the reason was truly 'legitimate'.
"I believe you all know who the first Master of the Light Tower was."
They nodded.
After all, what was the reason they had answered an emergency summons without being told why?
"He was one of the many teachers who taught the first Hero the knowledge of light, and the one who sacrificed his own life just before the fall of the ancient empire to ensure that countless magical arts were not lost."
It was because they all, at least outwardly, respected the first Master of the Light Tower.
It was no exaggeration to say that modern magic had developed to its current state thanks to the first Master of the Light Tower.
If the summons had been issued by the notoriously violent Pardel instead of him, would even half of the people here have shown up?
Even a quarter of them would have been considered a large turnout.
"In accordance with his will, our school handles, researches, and spends our lives exploring the nature of light. We also possess many artifacts related to him."
It was a well-known fact, but no one interrupted him.
They believed he must have a reason for bringing it up.
"For that reason, we are sensitive to darkness. To be precise, we are sensitive to 'Magi'."
-Thump!
"Don't tell me..."
Pardel shot up from his seat unwittingly and stared at him.
"Yes, that is correct."
Their brilliant minds had already reached a conclusion before he even finished speaking.
"A few months ago, I detected Magi in two locations on the continent."
As he finished speaking, countless people stared at him with looks of horror.
"......!!"
"......!!!"
Varden, having anticipated their reaction, was not surprised. He simply drove the point home, as if to confirm that what they had heard was not a lie.
"The very same Magi that was said to have vanished after the first Demon Lord was vanquished."
A silent shock enveloped the chamber.
* * *
"The wooden box buried beneath the center of five paulownia trees... Found it."
Allen brushed the dirt off the wooden box and opened the lid.
Inside the box, a glass bottle filled with a deep blue liquid lay nestled in a soft cloth.
"What was the effect of this elixir again?"
-Fwip-
As Allen opened the black book, the pages flipped rapidly, revealing the section he had read.
『──Following the map he received as a quest reward, Julius...』
"Not this part."
After turning a few more pages, the content Allen was looking for came into view.
『──Inside the wooden box was an elixir called [Blue Meteor Shower (A)]. This elixir, 57 years ago...』
Skipping over the detailed description of the elixir, he found the information he wanted.
『──The elixir's effect was simple. It absorbed the mana from the surrounding space into the user's body, expanding and stabilizing their mana circuits... 』
"...Hmm, this won't have much effect on me."
For Allen, whose body had already transformed into that of a giant, increasing the size of his mana circuits or the amount of his mana was of little use.
"It would have been better if it were the type that enhances affinity or sensitivity..."
But he couldn't just leave it behind because it was useless to him.
Just because he didn't need it didn't mean others wouldn't.
"I'll give some to Linbelle and Inellia, and keep the rest in storage for now..."
Just as Allen was about to tuck the wooden box into his coat, he heard a voice.
「I found it! I found it! Yahoo! What did I tell you! I said I could find it!」
A high-pitched, boastful voice.
When he turned his head, an elegant sword was flying through the air toward him.
"Vestla."
「I told you I know how to read a map! Why did you doubt me? I'm a great finder! Apologize! Quickly!」
Allen gave a wry smile and spoke.
"Alright, I'm sorry for doubting you."
「Ahem! Be more careful next time! Who can't read a map?」
Pleased by Allen's apology, Vestla's blade quivered as she laughed triumphantly. A map showing the elixir's location dangled from a string tied to her hilt.
After circling him for a while, her gaze turned to the black book.
「Are you looking at that book again? Isn't it just a blank book? Though it feels like there's something there...」
"...I'm not sure."
「Hmm... Well, whatever. I'm not the obsessive type, so I won't ask any more. You're welcome, right?」
"Your consideration is much appreciated."
Vestla couldn't read the book's contents.
To be precise, she said that the contents of all books appeared to her as blank pages.
'I can read the contents, but not the title.'
But she can read the title, but not the contents.
Allen didn't know exactly what this meant, but it was clear that she was related to the black book in some way.
'Though I don't know exactly how.'
Since she herself didn't know, he would have to figure it out on his own.
Allen filled in the hole he had dug to find the wooden box and asked.
"So, what did you find? The Moon-Gazing Herb? The broken eagle statue? Or did you find a cave?"
Through the black book, Allen knew the locations of the items Julius had obtained around this time before his regression.
However, they were all described in text, so he didn't know their exact locations.
'It's a good thing the characteristics of the elixir locations were described.'
Thanks to that, he could estimate the locations by combining the descriptions with the maps stored in his family's archives. The problem, however, was that the search area was far too wide.
That was why he had split up with Inellia and Linbelle.
'There isn't enough time to collect everything if we stick together.'
There were too many places to cover to travel as a group.
Inellia could move quickly and had experience as a hunter, so she should be able to find things easily.
As soon as he parted with them, Allen began to search the mountain with Vestla, who started chattering away as if she could no longer hold it in.
Fortunately, since she could fly, it was easy to search from the air.
During this time, Allen could use the black book without worrying about being seen.
Since she knew about the black book, she would overlook it even if he did something strange like staring into empty space.
In response to Allen's question, she shook her blade as if to say it was none of the three, and then spoke.
「You know that place you marked with an X at the top of the map?」
"...An X mark?"
He had only marked the search areas in red according to the estimated elixir locations on the map, hadn't he?
"No, don't tell me..."
It was a place he had given up on internally.
Unlike most places, which had specific descriptions, this was a location that man had traveled to via spatial teleportation as a quest reward.
That's why he had only marked it with its name and an X.
"You found the Spring of Spirits...?"
「Yes! That's right!」
"...But the location wasn't even properly marked?"
「I told you I found it! Phew, I'm really one of a kind, aren't I?」
"Didn't you just say you found it by reading the map?"
「Huh? W-well, I found it, and that's what matters, right? Let's just go! Aren't you coming?」
Allen stared at her as she noisily urged him to hurry up, saying she would guide him quickly, before replying.
"...Right, that's not what's important."
If she had really found the Spring of Spirits.
"Then please, lead the way."
He was willing to overlook her little lie.
「Follow me closely so you don't lose me! If you fall behind, I'm leaving you!」
Allen followed behind the swiftly flying Vestla, heading deeper into the mountain.
Located near El Lound, Mount Nicea held no particular dangers, so nothing could stop Allen's progress, and the two advanced smoothly inward.
As he followed, a sudden question came to Allen's mind, and he asked her.
"How did you find the Spring of Spirits? To be honest, I didn't think it would be possible..."